Order Reprints

Sustainability Desk

By Chuck Otto
Principal,
Corporate Sustainability Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The U.S. Green Building Council’s annual November Greenbuild conference inevitably delivers a panoramic perspective on where the green building industry has come from as well as where it’s going in the year ahead.

For 2010 we were back at Chicago’s McCormick Place. I heard reports of attendance approaching 30,000, up considerably from the 8,000 or so people present at my first Greenbuild conference in Portland in 2004. So, do I think interest in sustainable building is winding down? Not at all.

Based strictly on my observations from Portland to Chicago, I humbly and without the use of rocket science offer a few predictions for green building in 2011:

Green building’s momentum will continue. Considering the multitude of languages heard and products displayed at this year’s Greenbuild, I’m convinced the worldwide sustainable building sector will continue to draw innovators, entrepreneurs and (unfortunately) stone-cold speculators alike. And despite our fragile economy and uncertain regulatory future, the U.S. will remain the land of opportunity.

Green building will think outside the box. Creating energy efficient and healthy buildings remains a priority, but the focus increasingly shifts to entire neighborhoods. LEED has always emphasized the efficiencies of building or renovating where infrastructure, including mass transit and walkable destinations, already exist. LEED for Neighborhood Development will drive this further. After all, it takes a village … to reduce a neighborhood’s carbon footprint.

Water will become the new oil. The growing demand for, and scarcity of, potable water in much of the world, including the American Southwest, will spur the call for greater efficiencies in how we use a substance we truly cannot live without. Got graywater? (Google it.)

USGBC West Michigan Chapter founding members Renae Hesselink and Sam Pobst also agreed to offer some thoughts on the green building industry for 2011.

Renae Hesselink: USGBC introduced the Center for Green Schools this past September with a bold vision: Green Schools for Everyone within This Generation. This evolved from the launch of the Green School Advocacy Committee in 2007.

The Center for Green Schools is helping to engage educators in creating sustainable learning environments for their students and applying solid research to inform leadership — from school boards to college presidents — about the benefits of healthy, high-performing schools. We are working with state and local governments to draft smart, practical policies, and we provide training and helpful resources to those who need it most — K-12 schools serving lower-income families, under-resourced institutions and community colleges.

The Center serves to convene conversations with key decision makers, collaborate with leading education and environmental associations and create tools and resources that help make green schools possible. More tools are being developed to assist the 1,000 Green School Committee volunteers across the country. Our commitment remains strong around schools at the national and local level.

We have nearly 20 West Michigan LEED schools – all newly constructed buildings – already certified or in the process. We can make a greater impact by greening our existing schools, and this is where our West Michigan Green School Committee will focus in 2011.

Sam Pobst: U.S. manufacturers made significant progress this year in recognizing market trends established by the European PassivHaus Institute (PHI). Over 30,000 buildings in Europe constructed to this energy efficiency standard have been able to virtually eliminate their reliance on utilities for heating and cooling by investing in building envelope technology.

This standard is two to four times more energy efficient than what the domestic market has had the capacity to produce. This is most notable in window and heat recovery ventilation technology, which should be tested and approved to meet the Passive House US (PHIUS) standards.

Only one window manufacturer in Canada currently meets the standard, but nearly all manufacturers we talked to planned to have tested technology within the next couple of years, and two were importing products from Europe. Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) systems are less effective in the U.S. climate with our higher humidity, so testing of Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) systems must be validated relative to the standard.

By the way, the USGBC West Michigan Chapter has just published Green Buildings of West Michigan, a beautiful full-color hardcover book ideal for gift-giving (or self-gifting). Order your copy at http://www.usgbcwm.org/green-buildings-book.

Happy 2011.

The U.S. Green Building Council is a coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. The West Michigan Chapter provides and develops leadership through affiliations and education at all levels. Please send comments and column proposals to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

  Order Reprints

TAGS:

• chuck otto
• column
• green building
• green building council
• renae hesselink
• sam pobst
• sustainability
• sustainability desk
• tbl